As you know, the NH Department of Education is no longer offering the NH ALPs as the alternate assessment for science. Beginning this spring, the science assessment will be offered by Dynamic Learning Maps. This decision was made by a group of stakeholders that included both public and private special education directors throughout the state. Additionally, a survey was sent out to you last Spring for your feedback.

This should be a seamless transition since you are already administering the DLM assessments in ELA and math. The science portion will be administered the same way, through the online platform. The only difference is that science will now be taken by students in grades 5, 8 and 11.

There are multiple benefits of moving to DLM for all alternate assessments, one of which is the consistency for your students. There is also the ease of registering your students for only one assessment program as well as having the flexibility to administer any and all parts of the assessment at your convenience within the testing window. This year, the testing window will be March 13-June 8.

Nancy Keating, project manager for DLM will be in New Hampshire the week of October 30th to provide professional development for the assessment and answer any and all questions you may have. I have booked Thursday, November 2 here at the DOE in Concord for a morning and afternoon training. However, Nancy will also be available for trainings on Tuesday, October 31 and Wednesday, November 1. If you would like a host a training in your geographic area, please let me know ASAP so that we can schedule groups according to the need.

We look forward to reaching as many people as we can to make sure that you get the information you need regarding this important assessment. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email me at any time.